Outside of a Dog: Kate Nepveu's Book Log

In audiobook news, I most recently finished listening to Jeremy Irons reading James and the Giant Peach, by Roald Dahl. I grabbed it from Audible largely because I thought Irons' narration would be enjoyable—as indeed it was, though I'd forgotten that my primary association with Irons' voice was as the bad guy in The Lion King (yes, I know, I'm an uncultured lout), which was briefly disorienting.

(I can't remember whether I saw the movie or not, which probably means I didn't.)

I don't know that I have much to say about this: it's a Roald Dahl book, after all. There's a mistreated child, horrible adults who come to bad ends, and extreme and wacky weirdness. Despite the fantastic nature of the story, it has a certain concreteness in the characterizations and the way that the characters meet the problems of voyaging in a Giant Peach. Strangely, this made it disproportionately vexing when the story flat-out ignores the occasional physical impossibility. It is likely that the audio format gave me more time to dwell on these things, which wouldn't bother a general reader.

With that minor caveat, recommended.